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Met with an old friend for lunch yesterday. When we finished, he told me to wait by my truck, as he had something to give me. He drove up to my truck, opened his hatchback, and there was a BBb, H.N. White "King" sousaphone..... complete with the silver neck and silver bits. He gave it to me just to get it out of his garage. Absolutely filthy and black with tarnish..... I power washed it today and surveyed it for damage. Although there are a few dents, a number of broken solders, and a broken joint, there is nothing that would be considered major damage or unfixable. Valves are great.... no wear and no play between the valves and casings. Can't find a dent in any of the valve tubings, slides, or crooks. Got the valves moving and out, and only one slide is still stuck. Satin silver body with the shiny gold wash inside the bell..... which is in great condition, too.

While I gladly accepted it, I would be ecstatic if it was a four valve!! But, it's quite repairable, and I've already made arrangements with my instrument repairman buddy to get it worked on. Once it's dipped, cleaned and made playable, I'll decide if I want to take it a few steps further and improve the looks, etc.

The serial number tells me that it was made between 1930 and 1935.

Oddly enough, I had considered offering to buy it from him shortly after we had graduated from college, back in the early 1970's.

All good things come to those who wait!!

I’d be tempted to get a special chair for it…

That's awesome!!

Congrats, that’s super.

Had some issues with file size, so the pics are not in a logical order. Finally got them down to size and posted. As I stated before, some dents.... nothing major, and some solder joints broken.

Took a little silver cleaner cream and shined up the name..... just to see what it would take to clean it up.

If anyone knows anything more about this brand/model please feel free to speak up. The friend who gave it to me got it from the Salvation Army. They were throwing it out because it wasn't a tuba. At that time they were modeling their bands after the British Brass Bands....... so I was told.

Paulver wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:22 am If anyone knows anything more about this brand/model please feel free to speak up. The friend who gave it to me got it from the Salvation Army. They were throwing it out because it wasn't a tuba. At that time they were modeling their bands after the British Brass Bands....... so I was told.

The Salvation Army has its roots in England and the Classic SA band is modeled on the British Brass Band. They also made their own line of instruments which were also on the British model. Their brand was "Salvationist".

Here's a history of their work:

https://www.galpinsociety.org/index_htm ... s%20LR.pdf

Paulver wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:22 am Had some issues with file size, so the pics are not in a logical order. Finally got them down to size and posted. As I stated before, some dents.... nothing major, and some solder joints broken.

Took a little silver cleaner cream and shined up the name..... just to see what it would take to clean it up.

If anyone knows anything more about this brand/model please feel free to speak up. The friend who gave it to me got it from the Salvation Army. They were throwing it out because it wasn't a tuba. At that time they were modeling their bands after the British Brass Bands....... so I was told.

What is the bell size and the collar diameter at the connection between it and the body? It looks like a model 1250, but could easily be the 1270 as these look very similar.

Very nice! What a good friend!

The bell edge to edge is 25 3/4inches.

The bell collar is 6 1/4 inches.

Seems to be a big boy!!

After a quick internet search .... it appears that it's a 1250 model. Came in either 24 or 26 inch bell. A four valve would be a 1251 model

Paulver wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:21 pm The bell edge to edge is 25 3/4inches.

The bell collar is 6 1/4 inches.

Seems to be a big boy!!

After a quick internet search .... it appears that it's a 1250 model. Came in either 24 or 26 inch bell. A four valve would be a 1251 model

Yea, you have a 1250. The modern equivalent is the King 2350. It's probably the longest made sousaphone and most common.

Compare that to the King Giant model 1270 (comparable to the Conn 20K) - .750" bore, 7.5" collar, 28" bell - and the King Jumbo model 1265 - .812" bore, ~9.25" collar, 30" or 32" bell.